Tim Story

Tim Story, hailed as "a true artist in the electronic medium" (Victory Review, USA) and "a master of electronic chamber music" (CD Review, USA), Tim Story's work has garnered an international reputation for its haunting elegance and meticulous compositional detail. When writing and recording, he often spends months carefully working and refining the shape of each composition until he achieves the desired emotional and intellectual effect. His seemingly effortless pieces distill harmonic and melodic ideas that are often quite complex.

"I like to work with a finite palette of sounds and keep paring things down to a pure, though often ambiguous, expression. Simplicity without simplemindedness."

- Tim Story

In addition to nine solo albums and many compilation appearances, Story's work has appeared on numerous television and film soundtracks, including the original score for the popular NPR documentary “In Search of Angels” (1994), and “Caravan” (2005) , a feature-length documentary from the production company of acclaimed Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar. Story's music has been nominated for a Grammy award (for 1988's "Legend of Sleepy Hollow", a children's recording with Glenn Close), and a NAIRD "Best Album" award (for "Beguiled"). Also a noted producer, recent producton credits include the legendary duo Cluster's final album "Qua" in 2010.

Tim Story was born in 1957 in Philadelphia, and currently lives in the small river town of Maumee, in northwest Ohi

Curious Music releases Story's Inlandish, Story's collaboration with Hans-Joachim Roedelius in a limited-edition vinyl package in January 2017. Also forthcoming is a limited-edition vinyl release of Tim's album Buzzle.

Hans-Joachim Roedelius

For over eight decades, Hans-Joachim Roedelius has explored, documented and presented the results of his inward and outward exploration of the human spirit. His creative output, always both artistic and personal, has found expression in numerous disciplines including as a composer, musician, poet, sculptor, painter and singer with results that have influenced a generation of musicians and artists.

Roedelius was born in 1934 in Berlin. His first public appearances were as a child actor in several UFA films. While still in his early teens, he was conscripted into the Hitler Youth as a pimpfen. His rebellion from this assignment resulted in a period of imprisonment. At the conclusion of WWII, Roedelius embarked on an extended period wandering and exploration, gathering knowledge if not expertise in numerous capacities including as a cook, masseuse, hospice nurse, and in other fields with varying degrees of success.

In 1968, Roedelius took his first steps into the arts as a co-founder of the Zodiak Free Arts Lab with Conrad Schnitzler and Boris Schaack. While in existence for only a few months, the Zodiak, quickly became the center of Berlin's free jazz, avant-garde and experimental music scenes. Nebulous versions of groups such as Tangerine Dream and Ashra Temple took their tentative first creative steps at the Zodiak. During this period, Roedelius and Schnitzler invited pastry cook and student of Josef Bueys, Dieter Moebius, to form Kluster.

The trio's performances where characterized by lengthy, sometimes chaotic, improvisations combining the "intentional misuse" of instruments of cello and guitar with noises from everyday items such as alarm clocks and car batteries. The group toured extensively for over two years culminating in an eight hour improvisation "opening" for Jimi Hendrix. The group release three albums of their improvisations after which Schnitzler left. Moebius and Roedelius continued under the anglicized name of Cluster.

Cluster toured and recorded extensively throughout the 70s slowly progressing from an improvisational towards a more structured often melodic approach. Music that in its own quieter way, was no less radical or experimental than their early work. During this period Cluster joined with NEU! guitarist Michael Rother as Harmonia, touring and recording two highly influential albums Musik von Harmonia and Deluxe. Brian Eno, attracted by Cluster's idiosyncratic nature, recorded two albums with them at the fame Conny's Studio near Cologne. Cluster and Eno were also joined by Michael Rother for informal sessions that were eventually released, in part, as Tracks and Traces in 1997.

Roedelius released his first solo album, Durch die Wuste, in 1976. This proved to be the first of many solo and collaborative works that has grown to number almost 200 albums. Roedelius continues to give performances worldwide and release several albums per year in addition to working in theater, dance, painting and poetry.

Roedelius lives near Vienna, Austria.

Curious Music is releasing a limited edition vinyl package of Inlandish, Roedelius' collaboration with Tim Story in January 2017. The label will also release Nordlicht, his collaboration with Carl Michael von Hausswolff in Spring 2017. More to come.

Carl Michael von Hausswolff

Since the end of the 70s, von Hausswolff has worked as a composer using recording technology as his main instrument and as a visual artist using light projections, video and still photography as well as other media.

His music has been played in festivals such as Sonar (Barcelona), CTM (Berlin), L’audible (Paris), el niche Aural (Mexico City), MUTEK, (Montreal) etc. and released works on record by labels like RasterNoton (Berlin), Touch (London), Laton (Wien), iDeal (Göteborg) and MonoType (Warszaw).

Curious Music released Nordlicht, von Hausswolff's collaboration with Hans-Joachim Roedelius on March 30, 2017.

Kate St. John

Kate St. John is a classically trained composer, arranger, producer and instrumentalist (oboe, cor anglais, accordion, saxophone and piano). Her first band was The Ravishing Beauties with Virginia Astley and Nicky Holland. The trio joined The Teardrop Explodes in Liverpool during the winter of 1981 for a series of dates at a small clubs and a UK tour in early 1982. During the 1980's and early 1990s she was a member of The Dream Academy with Nick Laird-Clowes. In 1985 they had a worldwide hit with "Life In A Northern Town" and produced three albums: The Dream Academy (1985), Remembrance Days (1987) and A Different Kind Of Weather (1990). In the 1990s Kate was a member of Van Morrison's live band, playing oboe and saxophone. She played on five Van Morrison albums. In 1994 she co wrote and sang on four tracks with Roger Eno on the album The Familiar on the All Saints Label. This led to the formation of Channel Light Vessel, a band with Kate, Roger Eno, Bill Nelson, Laraaji and Mayumi Tachibana.

Kate has released two solo albums: Indescribable Night (1995) and Second Sight (1997).

She has played and toured with many artists including XTC, Julian Cope, The Waterboys, Damon Albarn, Marianne Faithfull and Lou Reed.

In the last 10 years she has specialized in being a Musical Director for multi-artist shows, including working with Joe Boyd on the Way To Blue tributes to Nick Drake, Hal Wilner on his Rogues Gallery and Nino Rota concerts and the Imagining Ireland/Imagining Home concerts in 2016 at The National Concert Hall in Dublin and The Festival Hall. She is also a string and woodwind arranger and recently orchestrated 9 songs with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra for Laura Marling

Kate, with her husband and writing partner, Neill MacColl, specializes in On Set music production in films, having worked on Far From The Madding Crowd (2015), Tulip Fever (2017), My Cousin Rachel (2017) and The Little Stranger (2018).

Curious Music released Kate's 1997 solo album Second Sight as a limited edition double 180g clear vinyl package and FLAC DL on December 12, 2017.

Harold Budd

Harold Budd was born in 1936 in Los Angeles and grew up in the desert town of Victorville. While serving in the army, Harold encountered jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler which resulted in a stint as Ayler’s drummer. From the 60s through the early 70s Harold studied composition and produced a number of avant-garde pieces including “Lovely Thing” and “Lirio”, a 24-hour piece for solo gong. Harold subsequently taught at the California Institute for the Arts from 1970-76. Harold's 1972 piece “Madrigals of The Rose Angel” came to the attention of Brian Eno and resulted in the release of the album The Pavilion of Dreams on Eno’s Obscure Records label. This album included appearances by Michael Nyman, Gavin Bryars and Marion Brown. Harold has continued to release a string of solo and collaborative albums including The Serpent (In Quicksilver) (1981), The Pearl (1984, with Eno), The Moon and the Melodies (1985, with the Cocteau Twins), Through the Hill (1994, with XTC’s Andy Partridge), Avalon Sutra (2004), Bordeaux (2011, with Cocteau Twin Robin Guthrie), Bandits of Stature (2012), and more.

In 2013, Harold finished a year-long project with the video artist Jane Maru which resulted in two albums, Jane 1-11 (2013), and Jane 12-21 (2014). Harold’s music continues to influence many generations of musicians, from U2’s sampling for “Cedars of Lebanon” on the album No Line on the Horizon (2009) to an anthology of 13 contemporary ambient musicians paying homage to Harold in Lost in the Humming Air (2012). Meanwhile, Harold continues to create and innovate. His book of poetry, Aurora Teardrops (2015), marked his seventh such book.

Harold lives in South Pasadena, California.

Curious Music releases Luxa by Harold Budd on 2 x 180g black vinyl and FLAC DL on April 12, 2018.

Charles Ditto

Charles Ditto is a composer and multi-instrumentalist from Texas whose music has been performed on five continents. The son of a rockabilly guitarist/singer and a church organist, he began learning music early, studying piano, clarinet, and guitar. He received a BM in composition from the University of Houston, graduating magna cum laude.

After relocating to Austin in 1981, Ditto established Ditto Records and Human Symphony Music, and has produced and marketed sixteen albums of original music to date. He worked as a dance class pianist for 16 years at the University of Texas and Ballet Austin. Other performance credits include Walter Hyatt, the Vanguards, Rajamani Gypsy Orchestra, Spencer Starnes, Larry Seyer, Tommy Hill, and Kevin Fowler. He received a MM (1992) and DMA (1998) in composition from the University of Texas/Austin. He was a Copeland Fellow at Amherst College in 1998.

His professional assignments have included commissioned scores for theater and dance for Peter Lobdell (New York and Amherst), the University of Texas, Amherst College, KO Theater Works, Inc., the Sharir Dance Co., Diana Prechter, Holly Williams, Impulso (Mexico), Kenesis, Trio 488, Vernita N’Cognita (New York), and Austin Symphony oboist Ian Davidson. His score for Raving, was selected for performances at the International Michael Chekhov Festival (2005) and the Metropolitan Playhouse (2006) in New York. He was the recipient of the Copeland Fellowship at Amherst College (1998), and was awarded American Music Center’s (New York) Composer Assistance Award in 2007. Dr. Ditto was the National Association of Composers-USA/Texas first-prize winner in 2008, and his music has been selected for publication on the Society of Composers, Inc. CD series on Capstone Records. Additionally, Ditto's music has been released on Summit Kids (distr. by Rounder), Evios Empire, Curious Music, Poison Plant, S4G Records, and Hypertonia World Enterprises Records. In 2009, "Cowboy Minimal," for string quartet and orchestra had its world premiere in Rome and was performed again in Florence. He has published articles on Handel’s clock music and Cuban zarzuela and has presented seminars in Europe, Mexico, and the US.

Ditto currently teaches at the School of Music at Texas State University and is the recipient of College Achievement Awards for Excellence in Scholarly and Creative Activities and twice for Excellence in Teaching.

Curious Music released an MP3 version of Ditto's 1987 release In Human Terms in Summer 2017.